How to Look Good on Zoom

hate the way you look in video calls well today i'm going to share four easy to implement tips to help you look amazing on your next zoom meeting hey guys thanks for clicking i'm katie failinger and on this channel i provide tutorials advice and tips for beginner and burgeoning video content creators if that sounds like something that you would want to see more of consider subscribing and make sure that you ring that bell to get notified when new videos go up okay video calls they are an inevitable part of our day-to-day now right whether it's zoom facetime or skype a pandemic forced so many of us online whether for daily meetings classes interviews or even just to visit with our families and simple tweaks to your setup can make or break whether your shot is flattering or just looks nothing like the real you so today i have four simple tips to help you look your best let's get into them shall we tip number one is by far the most impactful part of your zoom setup lighting is everything seriously i cannot emphasize how critical lighting is good lighting can cast flattering shadows create a filter effect complement your complexion make you look younger i mean the list goes on now there's no one magic form of lighting but there are a lot of good options available to you and one may make more sense than the others depending on your setup so let's go through the two that i have found to be the most flattering and we'll start with the simplest and that's to use natural light a few reasons why it's so great it's free and it's just really aesthetically pleasing it's super flattering so it's a great way to go and it's actually my personal preference now here's how to work with natural light for your zoom calls first you need to find it so you'll need a room with a window or several windows or if the weather is nice you can move your call outside no matter where you end up however you'll need to position yourself so that the light hits you in the most flattering way and really the easiest way to do that is to take your laptop your phone or your ipad whatever device you're using and just test it out now there are several ways to do that you can go into your camera on your laptop or your phone just make sure that it's in selfie mode if you're on your phone if you're on your laptop you can test it out in facetime without having to make a call or just go right into zoom or skype and start a new meeting and i'll quickly show you how to do this in zoom so you're just going to launch the application and hit new meeting don't worry no one will see you unless you invite other people into your call and then you can see exactly how your shot looks and how the light is hitting you so as i move around in this space you can see that the light changes on my face and in my background and just play around with it to see what looks the most flattering what you'll likely find is that you and your background look the best when you're facing the strongest source of light and again what's so great about natural light is that because it's natural it'll usually come off very flattering so that's natural lighting my other favorite kind of light to use is a ring light now i've used this ring light for a lot of zoom meetings and it's 18 inches so it's large now you don't need one this big they come in a range of sizes and if you're just sitting at a desk using a relatively close-up shot you won't need more than a small light i recently got this smaller light as well it's only 10 inches so it's a much more manageable size now what's so great about the ring light design is it casts a perfectly even light around your face and because it's circular the way this light reflects in your eyes actually makes them look like they're sparkling which is just a cool added touch now if you decide to get a ring light there are specific features to look for you're going to want a light that's dimmable and one that has an option to adjust the color temperature here's why the dimmer allows you to adjust how brightly the light hits you and you want the color temp flexibility so that you can adjust how warm or cool the light is this 10 inch ring light has both so i can get my coloring exactly how i want it and can avoid anything extreme on either end of the spectrum i won't look like an oompa loompa nor will i look ghostly pale and since i take most of my zoom meetings in my basement office studio and there are no windows these become even more critical features now i have links to both of these lights down in the description if you are interested in checking them out but just a quick heads up they are affiliate links meaning that i would earn just a small commission if you decided to purchase through either of them so feel free to go find these on your own i won't be offended i've also linked a few other resources below the first is a full guide to my video equipment kit and the other is a link to a video that i made with a huge list of gift ideas for video creators so i will link that up here for you as well just in case you want to check that out okay tip number two is all about the position of your camera and that's prop for proper angle what the heck does that mean okay i know you've seen this before the person in the zoom meeting who's clearly looking down at the camera it's one of the most unflattering angles known to man when you look down at the camera you automatically create what i call the frankenstein effect shadows form under your eyes your nose your hair and as you tilt your face down gravity starts to pull your face forward that accentuates or creates the illusion of a double chin or flab or even jowls that you might not even have how depressing is that so when i say prop for proper angle i mean prop your camera in a way that the angle will flatter you the rule of thumb there is to put your camera at or ever so slightly above eye level that will put the camera head on with your face meaning you'll be looking straight ahead or slightly up at the lens now how do you pull this off well most desk tabletops sit below eye level right here's where we start to rig things just grab a stack of books boxes board games i'm grabbing my yoga block whatever and start to prop up your laptop until it's the right height if you're using your cell phone you can just prop that up in the same way and rest it against a mug or anything sturdy enough to hold its weight and then once you have your props bolstered in place you can adjust your laptop screen so that you get it exactly where you want it simple moving on to tip number three and that's practice posture as kids we were always told to sit up straight right well there's definitely something to that by the very nature of a job that requires you to sit at a desk most of the day you're going to tend to slouch once in a while or a lot and when you slouch you look frumpy but sitting up by comparison will immediately slim you and shape you and on top of the instant slimming that posture provides it reduces pain in your entire back line and increases strength it gives you more energy it even improves your circulation and digestion so there are all sorts of great reasons to work on posture but let's take your posture a step further when it comes to your video calls if your video call is zoomed out enough to see your torso you can actually position yourself to create a more flattering silhouette on camera in a couple of ways to create more of a waist scoot your rear end back and away from the camera and then lean toward it this doesn't have to be super uncomfortable a little lean action will do the trick but what this does is create a slimming illusion as your body slopes away from the camera and my other insider tip is one that can help give your arms a more toned appearance so the trick here is to keep your elbows out from the side of your body almost tucked back a bit think subtle t-rex i know that sounds ridiculous but that slight change of position automatically engages those muscles and it also creates that same kind of slimming appearance since your arms are further away from the camera than the rest of your body now i'm not saying you need to sit in your next hour-long zoom meeting in an awkward uncomfortable pose like a crane drinking water from a pond okay but if the spotlight is on you you want to look your best and these are some at least intriguing ideas for you to try and finally tip number four involves your personal aesthetics tip number four is look presentable so run a brush through your hair or pull it off your face at least if you're comfortable a little makeup can go a very long way you don't need much and choose presentable attire appropriate for the occasion all these things are going to help you look way more polished now it really depends on the image that you want to present of course so i'm not going to tell you what your fashion sense or personal image should look like that's up to you but solid colors as opposed to patterns tend to work best and a collared shirt or a nice top is always going to look more polished than a radial t-shirt so there you have it four easy to implement do-it-yourself tips to make sure you're lit angled posed and appearing just as appealing as you want to be on your next zoom meeting or any video call that you have on your schedule just a reminder i have links to any resources and products that i mentioned in this video down in the description if you want to check them out and next time i'm going to show you how you can incorporate a teleprompter into your zoom meetings so if you have a big presentation or you have to give a speech over a video call i will hook you up watch for that coming up and hey if you found this video helpful do me a favor click that like button share this video with someone who might also find it helpful and subscribe so that you don't miss any new content you can also ring the bell to get notified any time a new video posts meanwhile if you want to take your diy video content to the next level i have an exciting opportunity to tell you about i will soon be launching my signature online course it's called the video production project it's an all-inclusive master class that will take you through every step of the video production process in an easy to understand and easy to implement way and i am offering some huge incentives when you enroll so it's worth a click to check it out i've got the link posted for you below and just one last thing i would love to stay in touch with you in between videos so reach out to me i am on all the social platforms i'm at katie failinger official on facebook and at katy failinger everywhere else and i've got shortcuts to all my pages below and i would love to hear from you you can also check out my website katiefailinger.com to see everything else that i am working on for now thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time t-rex hates push-ups to help you look amazing an inevitable part of our inevitable oh gotta get some cobwebs out zoom meeting zoom meeting zoom meeting so stuffy all the time so ridiculous

Channel: Katie Fehlinger

Views: 36,941

Rating: 4.971559 out of 5

Keywords: how to look good on zoom, how to look good on facetime, how to look good on skype, how to look good on camera, zoom lighting tips, zoom camera tips, best zoom setup, how to prop computer for zoom, how to look slimmer on camera, how to look better on zoom, zoom angle tips, how to work with natural light, how to use a ring light, ring light, ring light setup, best lighting for zoom, katie fehlinger, katie fehlinger video

Id: RIJVIXI8jHY

Length: 11min 26sec (686 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 01 2020